Arrow Pointing North
by Axel Motor
Summary: Pre-PoR. Shinon-centric. Set in the very early days of the Greil Mercenaries where the main character was more harsh and foul-mouthed than he is now.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: **Hi there! This is the first story I'm submitting here (like anyone cares about that detail). I don't mind if you like it or not, although out of sheer narcissism I'd like a review whatever your opinion.

**Shinon's Notes:** I miss those days. I could get drunk almost every night and no one would mind. Damn you Ike and your little helper.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own copyright to Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance or any of its characters. This story is purely fan made and not associated with the actual game itself.

* * *

The two mercenaries were hidden in from sight in the woods when a caravan passed through. Shinon eyed it carefully before shaking his head in disappointment.

- 'It's not these either. They're just merchants.' He said quietly.

Shinon was sitting in a small tree alongside the road through the forest. Gatrie was hiding in the bushes at the foot of the tree.

- 'Hey, Shinon!' Gatrie grunted. Shinon turned his head to face him, scowling.

- 'Quiet you idiot or you'll give us away!' Shinon hissed. 'It's bad enough that you moan about the heat and your armour's weight all the time!'

- 'But--' Gatrie began.

- 'I said _quiet_!' Sweet, he is having some unimportant problem again that he wants my help for, Shinon thought and shook his head in disgust. Gatrie was very good at picking the wrong moment for sharing secrets with other, often also the wrong secrets that should be his alone to keep. I sometimes wonder why I just don't abandon him, Shinon thought. Right now he is about to get ourselves killed.

Four days ago a very upset mother had rushed towards the mercenaries' fort. She claimed that her daughter had been taken by some bandits yesterday, and she had searched high and low for her along with her neighbourhood. As soon as she had finished her story she almost fell forward in exhaust, but Titania had steadied her and whispered some calming things to her while she sobbed violently. And now I and Sir Whiny have to spot out the next mysterious carriage that has been reported to pass by this road. Talk about levity, Shinon thought. What in King Ramon's crown could have made Greil to take on this stupid job for a very, very small fee? Shinon looked towards the convoy that nearly had gone out of sight. If Gatrie had been louder he would have made caravan guards attack them, regardless of whom they really were. I could probably have gotten myself out in one piece (but not unscathed though), but that useless piece of shit beneath me would have most likely been overtaken and killed. I would probably skip his funeral if Titania weren't such an emotional wench. Gatrie shifted under him, which broke Shinon out of his reverie.

- 'Shinon, what do you think happened to this girl?' Gatrie whispered. Shinon let out a heavy sigh and gave Gatrie a tired look.

- 'You never ever give up having something said, do you?' Shinon replied with a faint smile. 'She was probably raped, spanked, then killed and left for the crows.' Let's see his reaction to that, Shinon thought nastily.

- 'I hope not.' Gatrie shuddered. 'I wonder if she is cute.'

- 'Just continue your daydreaming in silence now, okay?' Shinon said tetchily.

- 'Okay, okay.' Gatrie muttered.

Another hour went by before a new carriage went by. This one was much more ragged than the previous one. Shinon also noticed the behaviour of the guards. They were not stern and quiet; instead they showed their unease and jumped at the slightest sound. They looked like they were about to cut down one of their own by mistake. They also showed little to no organisation. After they passed out of sight, Shinon leapt down from his hiding spot.

- 'I'm going to take a closer look at these guys, Gatrie. You stay here and look out for more convoys.' Shinon said.

- 'Whaaat? But I'm hungry--OW!' Gatrie began before Shinon hit him with his bow.

- 'Shut up and stay put!' Shinon spat furiously. 'And be on lookout instead of letting your love-dreams make your head foggy, idiot!'

Shinon didn't stay to hear Gatrie's reply. He had disappeared into the woods and left the heavy armoured lancer on his own.

* * *

The Feathered Falcon was a very dusty inn with little warmth emitting from the fireplace. Two of the guards had taken a table for themselves and mumbled something to each other while casting nasty looks at everyone else. They were very good at making themselves look suspicious, Shinon thought. He had followed them for three hours before they made camp about a fifty yards or so from the village Dhemer. Two of the group had slipped away though after a quarrel about the food ransom and Shinon decided that he couldn't keep the strange convoy in place, but he could at least catch some information. The serving wench gave him two drinks without him noticing.

- '…what do ye think 'bout the boss catch this time?' One of the guards mumbled excitedly.

- 'Same as always, bad.' The other one grunted.

- 'Come on Tofana, the tigers are a real tough lot.' The first one retorted. Tigers? Oh, that's what they are, Shinon concluded. He noticed his drinks and started on the first mug.

- 'And the cats are ugly and a real turn-off. The boss of course doesn't care, but since he's an idiot, what can be done?' Tofana sneered. Nothing special with these guys then, Shinon thought angrily. I have only been wasting my time at some sub-human slave traders. Well, it's time to get back and hope that Gatrie hasn't fallen asleep or worse; scored a date. In the best case he's dead.

- 'Bandits! Bandits are coming!' A man screamed. 'Bandits are coming here to sack us!' Dear me, what have I caught myself up with now, Shinon wondered while taking a look out of the window. A group of ruffians, about ten or so, were storming the village. Everyone were fleeing without a fight. Tofana and his companion were also taking a look before bolting out without paying. Guess I should follow suit. Wait, maybe… A cold smile split Shinon's face. He ran towards the nearest villager.

- 'You! Where's your leader?' Shinon asked bluntly. 'Speak up man, now! I don't have all day!' The man pointed terrified to a person of somewhat noble stature. Shinon was tempted to forget this right but ran towards him anyway. The man turned his face to see the archer running towards him and his eyes widened in fear and confusion.

- 'No need to make a drama of this.' Shinon said irritated. 'I have an offer for you.'

- 'Wh-what d-do you w-want?' The leader asked shaking.

- 'Five-hundred gold and I'll drive these wretches off.' Shinon said, still irritated by the fear in the man's face. The man's reaction was to stare at the archer in confusion. Great, this is hardly worth it, Shinon raged inside.

- 'Why? Wh-why don't you save yourself?' The leader blurted out.

- 'Fine, die then!' Shinon sneered and strode away. 'Don't blame me for it! Goddess-damned bluestocking…'

- 'Wait…' the man began but was struck in the back by a hand axe. He fell to the ground with a gurgle. This becoming quite dangerous, Shinon thought somewhat alarmed. Time to make an escape for the woods.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** I will get back to this one later on to do some retouches. The final part was bit to quick I noticed. Oh well.

**Shinon's Comments:** I can sympathize with a man who hates his boss.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes:** Sorry about the delay but it took an eternity to think of how continue this story. I somehow get the feeling I will have the same problem after this chapter. Oh, and school is obviously a factor too. Anyway, this will be less about Shinon and more about the rest of the team. Oh yeah, and sorry Dan Abnett, but I couldn't resist the temptation. Enjoy.

**Gatrie's Notes:** Tee hee hee! I'll be sharing the spotlight today!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own copyright to Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance or any of its characters. This story is purely fan made and not associated with the actual game itself.

* * *

So, I'm stuck once again with the fool in blue armour and I'm still looking for a girl whose mother couldn't be bothered to tell us how she looked like, Shinon fumed. And the only convoys that have passed through here are merchants after merchants and "Hi, I would like to die, can you help me?"

- 'Shinon. Get it together, pal.' Gatrie nudged him in the kidneys with his elbow (armoured of course) which sent a big jolt of pain through Shinon's stomach. Shinon winced and clutched his gut while glaring at Gatrie through eyes of rage.

- 'What was that necessary for?!' He spat through gritted teeth.

- 'Well, you looked like you were going to hurl…' Gatrie began apologetically.

- 'I am going to. At you.' Shinon snapped. Gatrie's mouth sprang shut like a steel trap. Shinon returned to watch the road. He had found Gatrie entangled and stuck in the bushes when he returned. He had then proceeded to laugh at him for the next five minutes before helping him out so they could go on with their job. Shinon were watching as another convoy went by when he decided he'd had enough. He leapt out of cover after they had passed.

- 'Shinon, where are you going?' Gatrie asked surprised.

- 'I'm going back to the base.' Shinon replied in a tone that brook no disagreement.

- 'But the boss will go nuts!' Gatrie shot back.

- 'I can handle the boss. However, I can't handle being stuck in the woods with only you for company.' Shinon sneered.

- 'So you're going to leave me here alone?' Gatrie asked angrily.

- 'Yeah, that's the plan.' Shinon replied. 'And before I forget…' He gave Gatrie a hard right jab in the face which caused the blond man to nearly lose his balance and crash into a tree.

- 'That's for elbowing me in the stomach.'

* * *

Shinon remained outraged for pretty much the rest of the day. By the time he got back it was late afternoon. Greil and Titania had sweeped the areas around their headquaters except Shinon and Gatrie's. They found the girl fainted after lunchtime in another forest. Appearently the bandits had run into a bear who attacked them in berserk rage and sent them reeling. The girl escaped them and had ran for hours before realizing she had got lost. She had then wandered about until she fainted.

After hearing about this when returned Shinon exploded and shut himself in his room, tripping over Mist on the way which made her the target of his swearing and cursing. Titania was then sent out to find Gatrie before dusk fell. She caught him hitting on a young woman who was blushing heavily from his compliments about her, whom Titania apologized to on Gatrie's behalf. The day continued without any more jobs coming in. One accident ocurred though. When Titania and Ike were out hunting Titania injured her hand and wrist on a charging elk's horns. She wouldn't be doing any fighting for a week or so.

* * *

Next morning in the training room.

- '...and that's how our economy is doing for now. Unless we get at least three more big jobs today then, well--' Titania went on while Greil was busy training Ike.

- '--I suppose we'll have to chew on our nails if we don't want to starve, don't we?' Gatrie cut in with his usual smile when he entered the room. All the eyes in the room turned on him with amused expressions. Gatrie's face quickly turn into a shade of red.

- 'Hey, I'm getting embarassed by that, y'know!' He blurted out quickly. 'I'm sorry' he went when everyone remained silent . The others then started laughing, which made Gatrie, if possible, even more embarassed.

- 'It is rather absurd to make a joke by cutting another person off, then not expecting anyone to look at you, Gatrie.' Titania replied and slapped his shoulder guard with her good hand.

- 'OK, I'll be better prepared next time.' Gatrie exclaimed relived, his face quickly returning to its normal pallor.

- 'What if pigs could fly?' Greil asked nastily.

- 'You're taking after Shinon, dad...' Ike began worriedly.

- 'No way in hell I am, son. And by the way, don't be such a worrywart. You'll be more likely to panic that way.' Greil replied with a reassuring pat on his son's head.

- 'Not that he will need to bother with that, Commander! He's too little to beat a big bad bandit anyway.' Gatrie giggled impishly while striding towards the two. Ike´s face turned irritated almost immedately.

- 'Where's Shinon?' Titania cut in before Ike could make his reply. Gatrie stopped in his tracks from the thought.

- 'In the dining room I think, but I'm unsure...' He answered after a moment. 'By the way, Captain, how's the hand?'

- 'Itching but mending, thanks for asking.'

- 'Good. Wipe your arse with the other one a while, all right?' Ike forgot his earlier irritation and burst into laughter. So did Greil. Titania chuckled before leaving the sparring room, while Gatrie continued to walk towards the two remaining persons in the room.

- 'You certainly have the temper of an axeman, Ike. Why don't you start using one like your old man?' The blond man asked happily. Greil threw him a dark look.

- 'Because he doesn't have the best build for it. Is that clear enough, Gatrie?' Greil replied. Gatrie´s face didn't turn red this time, but his smile faltered. Greil seemed to realize what he just had said too.

- 'Ike, see that armoured man there? He's a really bad bandit and he's gonna rob Mist if you don't stop him!'

- 'What?! Hey, Commander--waah!' Gatrie exclaimed before being attacked by Ike. He made some struggle before he caught on to Greil´s scheme. 'Help! Get this little law-lover away from me!' He then screamed in an overly dramatic tone of voice.

* * *

- '--I didn't say that, you--' Shinon furiously began.

- 'Don't give me that one! You called a small girl a "stupid whore" and a "cross-eyed cunt"! You weren't even drunk at the time!' Titania roared. 'You're good at shooting a bow, but your manners are the among worst I've ever encountered!

- 'Hmpf! What else is new?' Shinon snorted arrogantly.

- 'Dammit, Shinon! This can't go on if you're going to stay in the group! As of now, the kids are barring the doors to keep you out of their happy times!'

- 'Pah. More like jerking off together.' Shinon spat. Titania´s eyes narrowed and her jaw was clenching.

- 'Get out.' She hissed.

- 'Make me.'

- 'GET OUT! NOW!' Titania roared and grabbed Shinon, then slamming him against the wall beside the door. 'And believe me, you won't be having anything to eat for the day!' Shinon gave her one more venomous, hateful glance before leaving the dining room and slamming the door behind him. Titania remained glaring at door for a while before unclenching her fists and letting her shoulders slump. Right then then she became aware of the pain in her injured hand which made her cringe.

Dear me, we are dysfunctional lot, aren't we, she thought to herself while heading for the kitchen to make breakfast.

* * *

**Author's notes:** Okay, that's that. My hunch was right: I have no idea how to continue from now on. But, I suppose I'll think of something. You can always give me a couple of suggestions in a review or an email, though.

**Gatrie's notes:** What?! But a story is supposed to end happily! You have to continue with it!


End file.
